Fast Facts: Critical Ecosystems

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Fast Facts: Critical Ecosystems

June 12, 2014

Human survival and wellbeing depend upon biodiversity and healthy ecosystems, and the goods and services they provide—such as food, medicines, crop pollination, filtration of pollutants, and protection from natural disasters. This contribution is neither fully recognized nor valued in markets.  As a result, ecosystems, species and genes—the building blocks of biodiversity—are being degraded at an unparalleled pace as natural resources are exploited without consideration for their broader ecosystem and economic values. The poor, especially in rural areas, face the most severe impacts of such changes as they directly depend on ecosystem goods and services for their survival and wellbeing.

The sustainable management of ecosystem is essential to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and combating poverty. The conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity is key to achieving development goals.

Document Type
Regions and Countries